Read: Acts 3:1-10
He was born broken and broke. One caused the other. From birth, he was unable to walk, and in the days of the New Testament, there was little hope. So, the broken were also poor—very poor. Their lives consisted of sitting somewhere and begging. People would walk by, looking down on them, literally and figuratively, and maybe, just maybe, flip them a coin.
As Peter and John were walking to the temple that day, above the normal din, they heard a voice. You might say the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. But this voice wasn’t declaring the news of a Savior—it was declaring a man’s need for one. And then they saw him. Dirty, dusty, and broken. He said he needed money, but they too were broke. Unlike him, they were no longer broken. They had met Jesus.
So when Peter looked down at the broken man, he said, “Look at us.”
“I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” (Acts 3:4-6)
It gets better.
Peter reaches down, takes the man by the hand, and lifts him up. Somewhere on the way up, God healed the broken man. His feet and ankles became strong and for the first time in his life, he could walk. He jumped, he shouted, and then he did something he could never do before—he went to church.
As Jesus-followers, all around us are broken people. Some physically, some emotionally, all spiritually. The Bible says that every person has sinned—is broken before God. And Jesus just can’t wait to forgive their sins, lift them out of the dirt and dust of life, and welcome them into the family.
In these Coronavirus days when fear is running rampant, look around for the broken and share the hope of a Savior who defeated the greatest enemy ever—sin, death and grave. Be sure and let them know it isn’t church, it isn’t religion—it is a relationship with creator God. He wants to be their Abba Father, or dearest Father.
Tell those you chat with, email, or FaceTime about the man who beat death. Tell them they can rest in Jesus. Tell them “he’s got this,” because he does.
Dewayne Taylor pastors Dorrisville Baptist Church in Harrisburg.